Saturday, October 10, 2015

Humanitarian activists staged a 'die-in' in front of Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, calling for an independent investigation into the bombing of a MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Mercy Hospital To Be Location For Oct. 10 Protest

Of U.S. Bombing of Hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan

Portland, Maine –– Citizens disgusted by the U.S. bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan will protest on Saturday, October 10 in front of Mercy Hospital at 5:00pm.

CODEPINK Local Coordinator Lisa Savage said, “Bombing hospitals is a war crime under the Geneva convictions, and the Pentagon spokesman who called this ‘collateral damage’ is likely well aware of this fact.”

Some protesters plan to wear scrubs to highlight the fact that staff of the hospital were killed and injured during more than 30 minutes of bombing. Patients, including children, were also burned to death or otherwise injured during the air strike on the only free trauma hospital in the region. Doctors Without Borders has since announced that it is withdrawing from Kunduz, possibly from all of Afghanistan.

The action in Portland is part of a national wave of protests.

In Washington DC on Oct 6 before the start of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about Afghanistan, Dr. Margaret Flowers was arrested for speaking out against the recent US bombing of a Doctors Without Border hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Dr. Flowers was holding a sign which read “BOMBING HOSPITALS= WAR CRIME”.

Dr. Flowers, a pediatrician and candidate for the U.S. Senate seeking Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s seat, was with members of the peace group CODEPINK at the hearing who were wearing “bloodied” doctors garb with “bloody” hands to draw attention to the culpability of hearing witness General John Campbell, who is responsible for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

“There needs to be an independent investigation into the hospital bombing in Kunduz because targeting hospitals is against international law,” Dr. Flowers said from the Capitol Hill jail. “People should be held accountable for violating the law.”

The protesters were also calling for a U.S. commitment to rebuild the hospital, provide health care for the injured parties and compensate the families of the deceased. They delivered a petition to General Campbell signed by over 5,000 members of CODEPINK.

Several members of Doctors Without Borders attended the hearing. "Only an independent investigation will give us answers as to why a hospital was bombed and why the bombing continued for more than 30 minutes after Coalition and Afghan forces were informed that they were bombing a humanitarian hospital. The 22 civilians killed in this attack, including 12 staff of Doctors Without Borders deserve a transparent investigation," said Ella Watson-Stryker, who was named Time Magazine person of the year for fighting Ebola with Doctors Without Borders.

For more information on the Oct. 10 protest at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine contact CODEPINK Local Coordinator Pat Taub, 207-542-7119, pparee2011@gmail.com.